October 10, 2007

Live from C.A.R. Expo 2007!

Tomorrow is the last day of the California Association of REALTORS® Expo here in Anaheim, CA. I've only been on the floor one day, but so far I'm really digging this show. I skipped going to the two sessions I was considering attending in favor of staying in the booth. As happy as I was a year ago to be officially moved into our marketing department, I have to admit that I sort of miss this aspect of customer service. I enjoy explaining to potential customers what we can do and getting people interested and excited. I guess the argument could be made that, since this visitors to our booth aren't customers yet, this is more marketing than customer service and I'm still in the right department. Regardless, I really enjoy this and hope that the National Association of REALTORS® Conference & Expo coming up next month in Las Vegas goes even better.

Here's a little trivia bit for anyone who's never been to a real estate trade show: there are booths selling items that you wouldn't necessarily expect. At least I didn't. I just saw a few booths on my way from ours to the concessions area and restrooms so far, but there was clothing, jewelry, massage items, and my favorite thus far - massaging liquid gel insoles. I even bought a pair because trying them on sold me immediately!Another lesson I've learned today... it's incredibly expensive to change flights! I was thinking about the fact that check out is at noon, the show is over at 4, and my flight isn't until 7:50pm out of Santa Ana. So I'll have a lot of time to kill and I'm not sure where to kill it considering I'll have my bags with me. They're small but still... hopefully the hotel doesn't kick me to the curb if I decide to sit in the lobby for awhile.